An Artemis Fowl Love Story
by Lukas Turner
Summary: Artemis Fowl, after coming back to life in a cloned body, reads over his old documents to try and get a sense of who he is. Suddenly, Holly bursts into his room with devastating news about Trouble. Can the two people, now lovers, find a way to get the corrupt Commander off their backs? What will become of their lives afterward? Rated M for smut.
1. Chapter 1

**(A/N: Hello! This is my first fanfiction that I have decided to publish, though **_**not**_** the first one I've ever written. This one is set oh, about three months after TLG.**

**Enjoy!)**

Artemis Fowl was three months old.

Well, his body, at any rate. Three months eariler, he had been resurrected following his death at the hands of Opal Koboi. His brain was still trying to get used to this new form, and was having trouble with the hormones it was pumping out.

His body had been created in a cloning device known as the 'Chrysalis', and Foaly had overclocked it to create a fully formed clone in six months, as opposed to two years. Artemis' soul had inhabited the body, but had lost his memories in the process. Three months later, he still had yet to remember.

He had been reintroduced to his family, who the Fairies had been forced to reveal themselves to, because one's son and big brother coming back to life is simply too big of an event to be _mesmered_ away.

Holly especially seemed to want Artemis to regain his memories, and even though Artemis himself (at the moment) was no smarter than the average straight-A High School student, he knew that there was something else there besides a desire. He knew that something had to _fuel_ that desire, and Artemis suspected love.

Enough rambling.

Artemis Fowl was sitting at his desk, reading over his journals and documents for the trillionth time. Specifically, his Last Will and Testament.

_The last will and testament of Artemis Fowl the second, being the final wishes of Artemis Fowl in the event of his death at the hands of the pixie Opal Koboi. Should he survive for forty-eight hours after the date of writing, this will becomes null and void and shall have no legal weight in any court, Human or Fairy..._

Artemis' eyes always teared up when he read this part, for some reason:

_To my friend Captain Holly Short of the Lower Elements Police, I leave the thirty-seven solid gold bars that were the price of her release when I kidnapped her all those years ago..._

It was at this moment that Holly herself flew into Artemis' bedroom window, tears threatening to burst from her own eyes. When he noticed her fly in through the light of dusk filtering through the curtains, he quickly wiped his eyes and jumped up from his chair.

"Holly?" he asked. "What are you doing here? You're not supposed to come back until three days from now."

Holly did not answer, instead running across the room and collapsing into Artemis' arms, where now the tears flowed unchecked.

"What's wrong, Holly?" Artemis asked.

"It's - It's Trouble," Holly sobbed into his shoulder.

Artemis suddenly became worried. What had become of the Commander? Was he hurt? Was something wrong? Artemis still did not remember him, but Holly had told him what Trouble was like.

Turns out, Artemis was mistaken. Trouble was _not_ hurt, but there _was_ something terribly wrong with him.

"What about Trouble? What happened?"

"He - he... gods, Artemis, he _assaulted_ me."

Artemis frowned, then held Holly at arms length, inspecting her for any sort of damage, like ripped clothes. He knew that Holly's magic would have already fixed any _physical_ damage Trouble had inflicted on her.

Holly realized what Artemis was doing and shook her head, putting a hand over his. "Not... _that_ kind of assault, Artemis. The _other_ kind."

When Artemis heard this, his face lost whatever color it had, then flushed red with anger. Most unlike Artemis Fowl, but then again, he had never had his best friend _sexually _assaulted.

"Where is he now?"

Holly dug herself deeper into Artemis' chest. "He's on his way here. He followed me."

Artemis stroked Holly's hair for a moment to calm her down, then stood, stone-faced. Holly still clung to him, so she was lifted as well. He let her off on his bed, then opened his desk drawer and pulled out a Neutrino 2000, one of the ones from the original siege on Fowl Manor. Holly looked at it incredulously.

"You can..." her unspoken question was answered by Artemis' smirk.

"I've learned some things in the several months we've been apart." He paused. "And also _realized_ some very important things too."

Holly was about to ask what Artemis had realized when they both heard a shout outside, and Trouble Kelp flew through Artemis' open window. He seemed not to notice Artemis pointing the Neutrino at him as he ran across the room to Holly.

"Holly, I'm sorry," he said, grabbing Holly's hand. Trouble may have been trying to sound sincere, but Artemis and Holly could both tell that he was lying from the undertone in his voice and the lack of sincerity in his eyes. "I don't know what came over me. I-"

The reason Trouble abruptly stopped talking was because Holly had pulled her hand from his grip and slapped him across the face with all the strength she could muster (which was a lot), and an instant later, a Neutrino bolt fired by Artemis hit him square in the back.

"Bitch," growled Artemis. "I don't like liars, or molesters. And from what just saw and what Holly told me, you fall neatly into both categories."

Trouble groaned from the floor. "That wasn't fair... That was foul play. Fowl play." he gave a dark chuckle at his own joke, then lost consciousness as Artemis wordlessly put another charge in the commander.

"That's what you get for assaulting Holly." he said, his face devoid of expression and his voice dangerously calm.

Holly stood by, awestruck at this new display of pure... _un-Artemis-ness_. She momentarily worried that he would act the same toward her before she realized that she was his friend (though she hoped that would change), and would never dream of it.

Artemis asked what to do with the Commander, and Holly was struck with a brilliant idea, which when she voiced to Artemis, made him smirk like a little kid who found a way to cheat his parents.

#####

Five minutes later, Commander Kelp's unconscious body was perched on the windowsill, his wings ready to make an autopilot flight back to Tara. All that Holly needed to do now was to instruct the wings to start their course. This was by far the hardest part, because Holly would have to be wearing the helmet to give it instructions, then she would have to take it off and put it on Commander Kelp in the three-second delay before the wings started.

"Ready?" Artemis asked. He was holding Trouble's legs, just in case the program went awry and started before Holly could get the helmet onto Trouble's head.

Holly gave Artemis a thumbs-up, then said, "Computer. Begin course," into the helmet mic.

Trouble's wings began to hum, and Holly swiftly removed the helmet and jammed it onto the commander's head. One second later, Trouble disappeared as the wings flew him towards Tara. Artemis and Holly took a few moments to laugh at the commander's retreating form.

As soon as the laughter subsided, Holly finally took a good look at Artemis. He had grown his hair out, and his piercing blue eyes were more intense than she remembered. She unconsciously smiled when she saw that he was visibly stronger than when they had last seen each other. Artemis saw this smile and unconsciously copied it.

"What are you smiling about, Captain?"

Holly's smile turned into a smirk. "First of all, it's not 'Captain' anymore, it's 'Major'."

"Congratulations!" Artemis grinned. "What's the second part?"

Holly blushed marginally, but it was enough for Artemis to notice. "I noticed that... you've grown since we last met."

Artemis couldn't keep the smug grin off his face. "I have, haven't I? This... apparently cloned body is something else."

Holly rolled her eyes. "Stop it, Mud Boy."

Holly's mood became much more serious when she suddenly remembered what Artemis had said before Trouble so rudely interrupted. Artemis, again, unconsciously copied this mood.

"You said something earlier," she said. "About how you've 'realized some very important things'. What 'things' did you realize?" Holly had her hopes, but didn't dare voice them, in case Artemis didn't say what she thought he was going to.

Artemis sat on his bed with Holly and looked her dead in the eye. His piercing blue eyes seemed to bore holes straight into her soul.

"I realized, Holly, that I..." He paused, and Holly's heart rate sped up. "I love you."

#####

Holly merely sat there, stunned. Had those words really come out of Artemis' mouth? Or had that been her own fantasies talking?

"What?" she asked.

"I love you, Holly." Artemis repeated. "Even though I don't remember you at all, I know that there is something about you that's just... right."

As soon as the words left Artemis' mouth the second time, Holly knew for a fact that this was no fantasy. Artemis really _did _love her. She collapsed into Artemis' arms.

"I love you too, Arty." she said into his shoulder, then drew her head back and kissed him deeply.

What happened next was a surprise for both of them. After a few seconds of passionate kissing, Artemis suddenly jerked in his chair, yelping once in pain. He clamped a hand over his head.

"What - AH!"

Artemis fell out of his chair and whacked his head on the floor. Thoughts and memories flashed through his mind. The ones featuring Holly were the most prominent:

_Stay back, Human. You don't know what you're dealing with._

_You have no idea what you've done. Bringing the worlds together like this could mean disaster for us all._

_Deep beneath the layers of deviousness, you have a spark of decency. Perhaps you should blow on that spark occasionally._

_We did it again, Mud Boy. We saved the world, or at least stopped two worlds colliding._

_I remember. You saved me._

_You know something, Fowl? You did a good thing here. For it's own sake. Not one penny of profit._

_Trouble? Landing a crippled aircraft is just a normal Tuesday morning for us, Mud Boy._

_Yes. We are your friends._

**(A/N: Artemis remembers!**

**5 reviews = the next chapter! I have many chapters in queue (That is _such_ a weird word. I had to look up how to spell it.), and I will update as often as I get 5 reviews! Please? I really need to get this out here!)**


	2. Chapter 2

**(I lied. I'm going to post another chapter, even though I don't have any reviews. As previously stated, I _really_ want to get this out here.****)**

Artemis opened his eyes, and for a moment, they glowed blue. No, gold. Actually, _both_. One blue, one hazel.

Somehow, Artemis had gotten his original body back. Or at least Holly's eye.

"Holly..." he groaned. "Holly, I remember everything."

Holly gasped. "Really?"

Artemis nodded, sitting up. "There's something you never told me," he said. Holly knew immediately what it was.

"Rathdown Park. After the gorilla mauled me and you healed me... you kissed me."

Holly smiled. "Do you remember what I said after I called Commander Root?"

Artemis' face fell. "You said, 'Your elf-kissing days are over,' I believe. But why...?"

"Yes," Holly interrupted, "But..." Holly took Artemis' face in her hands and looked him in the eyes. "I lied."

Then she kissed him full on the lips, and they both fell over right there on the floor. They kissed until they fell asleep, holding each other close. Neither of them had any intentions of leaving now.

#####

Trouble awoke flying on autopilot 150 miles per hour over the Irish countryside. Upon realizing his location and speed, he screamed like a little pixette and frantically grasped for the controls on his wings. After his breathing and heartbeat slowed, he heard Foaly laughing in his earpiece.

If anybody had seen his face in that moment, they would have been starkly reminded of Commander Julius "Don't call me that!" Root.

AKA "Beetroot," but the other one is funnier.

"Don't make me, Donkey boy," he growled. Of course, he didn't know exactly what he was going to do _yet_, just... best to keep it over the centaur's head for awhile.

"Make you what, Commander?" Foaly asked, his voice shaking with laughter.

In the Ops booth, Foaly himself was shaking with laughter, partially because of the Commander's reaction to waking up in the air, but mostly because he had livestreamed the reaction on his Web Site and the viewers' reactions were hilarious. Several of them were mimicking the Commander's pixette-like squeal, and no amount of pudding rations was going to keep them quiet about it.

It was only shortly after Trouble returned that he found out about this livestream, and if he could have fired Foaly right then and there, he would have. But alas, only that 'ridiculous centaur' could work the 'ridiculously complicated gadgets'.

Within the course of a day, Commander Trouble Kelp went from proud commander of the most elite police force in and under the world to the laughingstock of Haven, simply because of a stupid choice he had made.

But Trouble didn't put the two together. To Trouble, it was all becuase of _him._

Fowl.

Just thinking the name filled Trouble with self-righteous vengeance.

_I bet HE was the one that came up with the ridiculous idea to FLY ME back to Haven. Unconscious! Ooh, he'll pay for that. Short will too. I swear, if they do anything together..._

Trouble stormed into his office and locked the door. He didn't want anybody to see what he was planning.

#####

Artemis woke up several hours later to a beeping that he did not recognize. It took a few moments for him to realize that the beeping was Holly's helmet. He untangled his limbs from Holly's, being careful not to wake her up. As it was, she let out a small whimper when she registered the lack of a heat source behind her.

Artemis slipped the helmet onto his head, and the beeping stopped, to be replaced by a 3D image of Foaly.

"Holly," Foaly said. "The Command - Oh, you're not Holly."

"Yes, Foaly. I'm not Holly." Artemis replied at normal volume. He knew the helmet would block any sound from escaping. "What does the despicable Commander need?"

"Despicable?" Foaly asked. "I wouldn't have chosen _that_ word. _Disgraced_, maybe, but... why despicable?"

Artemis took a deep, calming breath through his nose. "Do you know what he did to Holly before she came up here?"

Foaly looked concerned. "No, what?"

Artemis took another breath. "he _assaulted_ her. _Sexually_."

Foaly was appalled. "He _what_? He seriously... You're joking. Please, for the love of Frond, tell me that you're joking."

"Do I look like I'm joking to you, Foaly?" Artemis said.

Now it was Foaly's turn to take a deep, calming breath. "I was _going_ to say that the Commander needed Holly for a private training session, but now I don't think I will."

"Why's that?" Artemis asked, not getting the point yet.

"Well, you see... '_Private_ training session' and '_sexual assault_' don't really go well together, you know what I mean?"

"Ah." Artemis understood now. "So, what should I do? Keep Holly here for awhile until Trouble comes to his senses?"

Foaly nodded slowly. "I think that'd be good. Just... don't do anything irrational, lover boy." He smirked.

"How do you -?" Artemis started, then he remembered, Holly's helmet had been pointed at them when he had confessed to Holly his love for her. At least they hadn't done anything 'irrational' then.

"Oh." he said. He would have to make sure that the helmet was turned toward the wall for the remainder of Holly's stay.

Foaly laughed. "'Oh,' is right. Say hi to Holly for me, would you? And congratulations on getting your memories back."

Artemis smiled. "I will."

**( The next chapter may be the reason this story is rated M. It depends on what you say. If I get even _one_ request for smut, I will put it in there, and future chapters too.**

** Review for the next chapter! 5 reviews, make it happen!)**


	3. Chapter 3

**(Okay. So I've finally gotten 5 reviews. Good job, guys! Thank you for your feedback!**

**Happy memorial day to my American readers!**

**And HartemisFTW, thanks for the smut request :)**

**Enjoy...)**

At one point, Trouble had had the basics of a plan. Apparently, according to what Foaly had told him moments ealier, Holly had refused his request for a private training session, though Trouble's self-righteous mind didn't know why. The training session was supposed to be a surprise apology and Trouble was going to redeem himself. Then Holly would have been all over _him_, instead of the Fowl boy.

Now that plan was done for, and Holly was, according to Foaly, 'physically unable' to return to Haven.

_Bullshit,_ Trouble thought. From what he knew, Holly was perfectly fine, unless...

Unless Fowl had kidnapped her again.

_It seems like just the thing he would do._ Trouble seethed._ Kidnapping Holly and forcing her to horrible, horrible things for him. That's probably what he's doing right now._

In a near panic, Trouble rushed to his computer and activated the nearly microscopic surveillance bug he had placed on Holly's shoulder. He controlled it to fly off onto the ceiling and project a 360 degree view of the room. Then he watched.

#####

Artemis returned to his bed after taking off the helmet. Holly had woken up somewhat, and looked up at him drowsily. She climbed into the bed with him, and he put his arm around her.

"Who was it?" she asked. Artemis kissed her forehead before replying,

"It was Foaly. Apparently, the Commander requested a _private_ training session with you."

Holly scoffed. "And what did you say?"

"I refused. Well, Foaly refused, actually, and I agreed with him."

Holly glared into space. "I don't think I would have refused it so quickly. I kinda want to punch Trouble."

"Me too."

Artemis and Holly cuddled for a long time before Holly's expression suddenly became very, very sad.

"I'm sorry, Arty, but I really do have to go back to Haven," she said morosely, climbing out from underneath the covers. Artemis almost grabbed her wrist, but decided to gently grasp her fingers instead. It made all the difference.

"No, you don't." he said. "Foaly and I decided that you are going to stay at Fowl Manor until the Commander comes to his senses."

Holly looked a great deal happier than she had a moment earlier. "Really?" she asked, her voice heavy with hope.

Artemis nodded, smiling. "Really."

Holly smiled. "Well, let's make the best of it, shall we?"

Artemis sat up. "How do you propose we do that?"

"I have an idea..." she said before she climbed onto his lap and her lips crashed against his. Artemis wasted a split second being surprised before returning the kiss with equal passion and enthusiasm.

Holly found her hands exploring every inch of Artemis they could reach, toying with the hem of his silk pajama shirt, brushing over his chest, toying with the hem of his shirt, running through his thouroughly tussled hair, toying with his shirt some more...

Artemis, realizing where Holly's hands kept returning, momentarily broke the kiss to swiftly remove the garment, being careful to toss it onto his dresser, and not onto the floor. Holly stared in awe at Artemis' developed muscles.

_Butler's done his job well,_ she thought, brushing her fingers over his chest.

_Arty. My strong, wonderful, perfect Arty._

Holly kissed him again, and her hands roamed Artemis' body shamelessly, even as his hands explored her own small form. As Artemis' hands ran across her back, his fingers found a 'sweet spot' that Holly didn't even know she had, causing her to let out a small gasp of surprise and arch her back.

When Holly arched her back, Artemis gave a strangled gasp of his own. Unbeknownst to Holly, when she had made that movement, she had unintentionally ground her pelvis against Artemis'. And everybody who has ever been a teenage boy knows what happens when the love of his life grinds against him.

This same thing happened to Artemis. His cloned body was only a few months old, but had the metabolism of a nineteen-year-old man, and his hormones were pumping like crazy to keep up. In reality, Artemis should have been well past this stage of puberty, but cloning technology has a way of messing that sort of stuff up. Holly's Fairy eye did not do anything to detract from these hormones.

Enough of the science talk.

The above mentioned condition happened to Artemis, and Holly, as she was sitting on Artemis' lap, was bound to feel it. She did. She grinned, pulling away from Artemis.

"Liked that, didn't you?" she said, her voice taking on a husky tone.

Artemis was - dare I say it - _scared_. But he managed to groan,

"Yeah."

Holly took Artemis' hands in her own, grabbing his wrists. "Touch me," she said. "Please."

All fear Artemis had had evaporated with this request. He ran his fingers across hers, then moved his hands to her breasts, massaging the soft mounds. Holly moaned and bucked her hips at his touch.

"You're so beautiful, Holly," Artemis breathed. "So wonderful." He removed one of his hands to pull Holly into a passionate and sensual kiss. Holly opened her mouth slightly and Artemis felt her tongue against his lips, apparently requesting entrance. Artemis happily granted it.

As their tongues intertwined and battled for dominance, Artemis began to fumble with the zipper on Holly's LEP uniform. Unfortunately, the suit was as high-tech as anybody would expect, and the zipper was very well hidden.

Holly guessed what Artemis was doing easily, and stopped Artemis' fumbling by pressing her whole body against his shirtless torso, pinning his arms in between them.

That stopped Artemis dead in his tracks. The feel of Holly's body against his own, the warmth and softness, despite the slightly scratchy LEP uniform, caused him to become even more painfully aroused.

Holly, still frenching with Artemis, found and deftly pulled down the zipper on her uniform (it was on the side), and shrugged it off her shoulders, revealing a black one-piece underneath, made of the most comfortable material Foaly could procure. Which obviously meant it needed to come off.

Holly momentarily broke the kiss to take her outer uniform off completely. Artemis watched, eyes wide, the whole time. When she was done, she resumed kissing Artemis, even as she ground her hips harder against him.

"Oh, _Holly,_" Artemis groaned. "I need -" He got no farther because Holly moved her lips to his neck, causing Artemis to gasp in surprise.

Holly kissed her way down to his chest, and began to undo Artemis' belt. She got it off almost as fast as Artemis could, then unbuttoned and unzipped the fly.

It was at this moment that Artemis took control of his clothes.

"Holly," he said. "Come here, I want to kiss you more." And having said that, he lifted Holly by the shoulders and kissed her deeply, even as he kicked off his pants, discarding them on the floor.

What followed was about thirty seconds of passionate kissing, then Artemis started to remove her one-piece. He got it off her shoulders, but stopped when he got to her small, but perfectly proportionate, breasts.

"Do you want to continue?" he asked.

In reply, Holly smiled and pulled the garment down herself, exposing her soft caramel breasts.

When Artemis caught sight of her rapidly hardening nipples, it was all he could do not to tear the rest of her clothes off and plow her into oblivion. As it was, he groped at her breasts with renewed vigor, squeezing them and tweaking her nipples slightly. Holly gasped every time he did this as more and more hormones pumped through her petite body.

Holly, as she was still on Artemis' lap, decided to try something a little risky.

She took her bare toes and hooked them under the hem of Artemis' underwear. Satisfied that she had a good hold, she pushed the garment downward, all the way to Artemis' knees.

Artemis almost shouted in surprise.

"Holly," he gasped. "I had no idea you were so... _ready_."

Holly grinned wickedly. "I'm always ready for you, Arty."

Artemis shrugged. "Fair enough." He pulled Holly's one-piece all the way off, utilizing the much less-hidden zipper he had found on the back. Now the only thing between him and Holly's now soaking wet pussy was a pair of white panties, which Holly herself tore off, and indeed almost tore, because of her desperation to be as close to Artemis as absolutely possible.

Artemis stared at Holly's drenched folds for almost a minute before his brain kick-started and he put his hands on Holly's hips, running across her legs, ass and stomach area.

Holly shifted her way down to Artemis' hard cock, and her eyes widened when she saw it. Artemis too had become slightly nervous when he saw the size difference between them.

"Am I going to fit?" he asked.

"Yes." Holly said, her voice nearly unrecognizable from how husky it had become. "Oh yes, you'll fit." She grinned, looking Artemis in the eyes as she positioned herself above Artemis. "I'll make you fit."

Holly did not take her eyes off Artemis' as she lowered herself down onto his member. Her eyes narrowed in concentration and pain as it stretched her insides. To Artemis, it felt like his cock was being squeezed in a velvet clamp.

"Oh, Holly," he groaned, unable to stop the instinctive buck of his hips. Holly gasped as she slid down even farther on Artemis' cock, with it now buried over halfway inside her.

Holly grit her teeth and put her full weight into getting even more of Artemis inside, but because she was so small and tight, her efforts were in vain. Artemis noticed this, ever focused as he was, and put his hands on Holly's hips to help.

With this extra force, Holly slowly, oh so agonizingly slowly, was able to get Artemis' member completely inside her.

Holly took heaving breaths as her inner walls stretched to accomodate Artemis' member. They stayed this way for almost a minute before Holly began to move. She rose a few inches, then pushed herself back down as hard as she could. It was enough for her.

According to the elf anatomy she had studied in high school, male elves' _nethers _generally only got to about four to five inches. Artemis' had to be at least eight, and _much_ thicker. Thus, when he was inside, he hit all of Holly's pleasure points effortlessly. She only hoped she was doing the same for him.

"Holly," Artemis groaned. "You're so tight..." He put his hands on Holly's hips and helped her thrust down. With this extra assistance, Holly was able to get Artemis deeper inside her than ever. Their hips connected every time, making a dull slapping sound.

"Artemis!" Holly shouted, far too loudly. "Faster! Harder!"

Artemis obliged, and Holly pushed her face into his chest to muffle her screams of ecstasy. They went faster and faster, until all either of them could see was a mass of swirling colors.

Suddenly, Holly's walls clenched against Artemis' member, and he knew she was at her limit. With one last scream against Artemis' chest of pure ecstasy, Holly came, her juices squirting all over Artemis' cock, the inside of both their thighs, and the bed underneath. Artemis came immediately after, burying himself as much as possible inside of Holly. Her fingernails dug grooves in his back that Artemis knew would leave welts later, but all that either of them cared about at the moment was that Holly was Artemis', and Artemis was Holly's. They had claimed each other in the most complete way possible.

Artemis collapsed next to Holly. Both of them were breathing heavily.

"Gods, Arty, that was..." Holly panted.

"Awesome?" Artemis finished.

"No." Holly shook her head, grinning. "It was _phenomenal_. I'm not gonna be able to walk for hours."

Artemis smiled, kissing Holly tenderly. "I'm glad I was able to please you, my dear."

Artemis realized that the room had somehow gotten colder while they had been _occupied_, so he pulled the blanket up over both of them. Not a moment too soon, because just then, Butler burst through the door, gun in hand.

"Artemis," he panted. "Is something wrong? I heard screaming, and - oh."

The bodyguard had just noticed Artemis under the covers with Holly, and it was obvious that neither of them were clothed. Holly was staring at him, mortified, while Artemis wore his usual impassive expression, with maybe a hint of a smirk.

"I'm just gonna... I'll go now." Butler's face took on a hue similar to a basket full of ripe apples, and he quietly closed the door.

It wasn't as if Butler hadn't seen those sorts of things, and worse, before, but Artemis... and Holly?

_About time now,_ Butler thought. He returned to the dojo, where Juliet was waiting.

"What was it, Dom?" she asked.

Buther sighed. "It was... Holly."

"Holly...?" Juliet was confused. Holly was at the Manor? Why didn't she know about this?

"Yes, Holly."

Juliet's brain kickstarted a little. "Oh my God, is she all right?"

Butler nodded. "As far as I was able to tell, she is fine. She's with Artemis, so I don't see what she would have to worry about."

"Holly... with Artemis..." Juliet muttered. "Screaming..." Her eyes widened to the size of saucers as it hit her. "No way. They seriously... They did?"

Butler internally groaned. He had not meant to reveal this tiny little fact. Reluctantly, he nodded.

"Oh. My. GAWD!" Juliet shrieked. "Ooh, I knew it! I knew they were going to get together!" She punched the nearest punching bag in her excitement and nearly decimated it.

Butler shook his head in exasperation. _Girls..._

#####

Trouble hit the STOP button on the controls for the microbug. For several moments, all he could do was stare at the now black screen, mortified at what he had witnessed.

_Holly... 'did it' with Artemis. With Artemis!_

The Commander's stunned reaction abruptly morphed into anger. White-hot fury bubbled up inside him, until it was so great that he let it all out in a ten-second roar.

Trouble had _big_ lungs.

He stormed out of his office, and when Foaly tried to ask him something, he merely clamped a hand over the centaur's mouth.

"Shut up, Donkey Boy." He growled. "I don't want to hear it. Get me a helmet and wings, now."

Foaly was surprised. A helmet and wings?

"What for, Commander?" he asked, pushing Trouble's hand down. "There's nothing going on topside today."

"Don't you lie to me, mule!" Trouble roared, spittle flying from his lips. "You know damn well what I need those for!"

Foaly bristled at the 'mule' comment. Trouble calling him 'Donkey Boy' was tolerable, because it had been Commander Root's old name for him, but 'mule' took it one step too far.

"Oh yes," Foaly pretended to realize. "Holly's gone. I already told you, Commander, that she will not - _cannot_, actually - return to Haven."

Trouble's face could have stopped five traffic lanes as he stepped up two inches from Foaly's face. Foaly didn't flinch.

"Do you know _why_ she 'can't return'?" he asked, his voice dangerously low.

Foaly sounded calm as he answered, "No. Can't say I do."

Trouble's face, if possible, went even redder. "Good! Nobody else needs to know what they've been up to!"

Foaly digested this information: Any possible cause of Trouble's anger, one in particular, his unorthodox request, and what he had just said. When he figured it out, his eyes grew to the size of saucers.

"You're not saying they - _did it_, are you?" he asked quietly.

"That's exactly what I'm saying, so get me the wings and helmet!" Trouble shouted.

Foaly thought hard for a few crucial seconds, then said, in a hard and determined voice,

"No."

Trouble turned to face him. "What did you say to me, Donkey boy?"

"I said, 'No.'"

"And why is that?" Trouble's voice was dangerously calm, as it had been earlier.

"Simple," Foaly said. "You planted a surveillance device on an unwilling _and unknowing_ officer,-"

"And how would you know that?"

"Because you've been in your office for the past half hour, you were just on the surface to visit Holly, and you just told me that you know what they were doing. I'm not stupid, Commander. You have no legal reason to visit the surface. Not to mention the fact that you _sexually assaulted_ Holly."

Trouble knew that he had been defeated, but he wouldn't let that stop him.

"Foaly, you had better get me those before I fire your ass right now."

Foaly scoffed. "You know you can't fire me."

"Then I'll press charges against you."

"For what?"

"Obstructing and disobeying a superior officer. That'll get you fired for sure. That's straight-up mutiny right there."

Now it was Foaly's turn to be defeated, and he didn't have any threats to throw at the Commander.

"Fine," he sighed. He fished a card out of his pocket. "That's the key to the storage room."

Trouble took the key and disappeared down the hall. As soon as the Commander was out of sight, Foaly dialed Artemis.

**(Shit.)**


	4. Chapter 4

**(Aaah! I just realized that I have 5 reviews!**

**My humblest apologies.**

**Anyway, happy late Independence Day for my American readers! I believe the next 'holiday' is August 21, which is 'Fanfiction Author's appreciation day'. Come celebrate it with me!**

**Another thing I wanted to touch on. This story will be **_**very short.**_** I plan on it ending in about five or six chapters, unlike Andrew, who has 26 and doesn't seem like he's stopping anytime soon.**

**HOWEVER, there will guaranteed be two more separate stories, both **_**much**_** higher quality than this one. I'll explain more in future chapters.**

**Enjoy!)**

Artemis was getting dressed and trying to catch his breath when his communicator rang.

"What is it, Foaly?" Artemis asked, irritated. He made sure to keep the camera pointed above his waist, and away from Holly, who still had not a stitch of clothing on.

_"Trouble's coming."_ said Foaly. He looked genuinely terrified.

"Why is he coming back?" Artemis asked, now interested. Holly poked her head, and only her head, into the viewframe.

"Yeah," she said. "Why _is_ that scumbag coming back?"

"Holly!" Artemis scolded. "Watch your language, please."

Holly rolled her eyes. She knew he was joking, and that he despised Trouble as much as she did.

_"Well, all I'm going to say is that Trouble, ah, _saw_ you two."_

"Shit," Artemis muttered.

"Arty!" Holly scolded. "Watch your language."

_"Anyway, he's going to be there in less than an hour, so I'd suggest you become decent, unless you want Trouble to be angry _and_ embarrassed."_

Foaly hung up, leaving them standing, and in Holly's case sitting, worried about what would happen.

"Do you think... us doing that..." Artemis said nervously, "May have been... a mistake?"

Holly turned Artemis' head so he was looking at her. Then she kissed him on the lips. "Absolutely not. I don't regret it at all."

Artemis smiled. "Then neither do I."

#####

Fifty-two minutes later, Artemis and Holly stood on Artemis' balcony overlooking the spacious yard behind the Manor. The grass was bright green and even, and the trees were lush; the roses in full bloom. Coincidentally, the huge spiral of orange blossoms was visible from the balcony, and Artemis, when he had nothing else to do, would often spend long hours simply gazing at the beautiful blossoms, occasionally venturing down to meditate in the center.

But neither Artemis nor Holly were gazing teary-eyed at the flowers, rather, they were scanning the sky with binoculars that Artemis had fitted with shield-neutralizing filters mere minutes beforehand. The advantage of these particular filters was that they lit up anything that was shielded in bright red.

"I got him," said Holly. "Northwest, altitude 200 feet."

Artemis pointed his binoculars toward the area Holly had specified and quickly spotted the Commander. He was a great distance away, so far that you could not have seen him without magnification, even if he were visible to the naked eye.

"Come on," Artemis beckoned. "Let's go inside."

Holly jumped down from her chair and went through the door that Artemis held open for her.

_Ever the gentleman,_ she thought.

Artemis and Holly walked hand in hand down to the spacious dining room, wher Butler and Juliet were talking in hushed tones among themselves.

"Butler," Artemis said. Butler's head snapped up.

"Yes, Artemis?" he asked.

"I need you to prepare a few weapons. Fairy-grade, and nonlethal."

The bodyguard's eyebrows furrowed. "Why?"

"Commander Kelp is going to stop by for a quick visit. He is angry, so we need to prepare for any eventuality."

"Does this have anything to do with what happened... earlier?"

Artemis nodded shamelessly, while the two females blushed furiously. "Yes. As I said, he's not happy."

No sooner had he said this than he heard _BANG! BANG! BANG!_ on the front door. Butler answered it.

"Afternoon, Commander. What brings you here?"

They heard the Commander's calm voice. "I need to speak to Artemis Fowl."

Butler ran through a mental list of the various weapons he had on his person. Of course he had his Sig Sauer, but he also had a laser pointer that could cut through metal, and a modified Neutrino that he could shoot from his wrist, along with several other obsolete weapons.

Artemis sat at the head of the table, Holly on his right, Juliet on his left. "I'm in the dining room," he called. "Butler, would you escort our guest?"

Moments later, Trouble entered the dining room, Butler at his heels.

"Sit, please," Artemis beckoned, gesturing to an empty chair. Trouble was too angry, and did not want to 'sit, please', but he was tired after the ordeals of that day, so he begrudgingly sat.

"I assume you are here because of my recent interactions with Major Short, am I correct?"

Trouble's face became red with anger. "You know damn well why I'm here, Mud Whelp! You - you _defiled _my officer!"

Artemis placed his fingers together, forming a steeple. "Forgive me if I am unrepentant. In all fairness to myself, she instigated it, as I'm sure you saw." Artemis' previously impassive expression morphed into an evil smirk. Holly fixed the commander with a glare that could have seared a goblin's skin.

Trouble looked startled for a moment, then became angrier.

"I'm not going to beat around the bush, Fowl. I want my officer back."

"No." said Artemis and Holly simultaneously. Artemis almost said more, but Holly beat him to it.

"Foaly said that I will be staying _safe_ at Fowl Manor until you come to your senses about this mess!" she shouted. "Think about it, _Trouble_. If _you_ hadn't _sexually assaulted_ me earlier, none of this would have happened!" She abruptly stopped. "None of this would have happened..." she muttered.

"You know, Commander," she said, a grin forming on her face. "I really should thank you. Because I chose to come here to escape you, a few things happened. If I hadn't..." She proceeded to list them off in front of the stunned Commander's face.

"One, I would still be wishing Artemis and I could be together. Two, Artemis would not have gotten his memories back, and three... Arty and I would have never shared what we did." She looked up at Artemis, who was smiling like she had never seen him before. This was a smile that held no deviousness behind it; there was no scheme, no underlying meaning, just pure, unbridled joy.

"Thank you, Holly," Artemis breathed. Then he addressed the Commander in a voice that could have made Opal Koboi donate all her money to charity.

"You should be ashamed of yourself, Commander. I thought you were better than this."

Trouble's face reddened, and Artemis saw several veins pulsing in his forehead.

"You - you hypocrite!" Trouble yelled.

Artemis retained his calm composure. "How so?"

"_I_ should be ashamed of myself? Look at you! Kidnapping my officer, almost exposing the People, and now this! You, of all people, should be ashamed."

"I was under the assumption, the _correct_ assumption, that I have already been forgiven for kidnapping your officer. By the officer herself. And when have I ever come close to exposing the People?"

"Jon Spiro."

Artemis nodded slowly. "I see... But, I am the one who stopped Spiro from discovering the People, am I not?"

Trouble was losing ground and he knew it. He decided to play his trump card.

"You do know..." he said calmly, "That Major Short was originally -"

"Let me guess," Artemis interrupted. "Yours? By the 'old ways'?"

Trouble grinned wickedly. "No. Chairman Lope's." He knew it was a lie, but it was something.

Artemis' eyes widened minutely in surprise, and Holly's face resembled the late Commander Root's.

"Chairman Lope never loved me." she said with barely suppressed rage. "And I never loved him, not one bit. And we both know that's a lie. You still think I'm _yours_. Guess what, _Commander_? I'm not." She somehow made the title sound like an insult. Not easy.

"Holly," Artemis said quietly, "Perhaps we could discuss this after the commander leaves?"

"No you won't," growled Trouble. "Lope wants Holly back in Haven immediately."

"You mean _you_ want Holly back in Haven," Artemis said. "I'm not stupid, Commander. On the contrary, I am very smart. Some would say the _smartest_."

Trouble stood, seething. "Fine. Holly can stay here until I come back with a warrant. Then not you or anybody else can stop me."

Artemis grinned. "You can try."

**(Artemis is such a smartass!**

**Review for another one! The next one's going to be a lot of dialogue.**

**Cheers!)**


	5. Chapter 5

**(All right! I saw 5 reviews, so I gave you another chapter! This one, as I said in the last chapter, is a lot of dialogue.**

**I also heard that Andrew Smithers just posted his Finding Again remake on Wattpad.. Go check it out! I definitely will... :)**

Foaly stood in the Ops booth. He had witnessed all of what had happened on Trouble's helmet camera and he was determined to make it so Trouble _would not_ get that warrant.

_Artemis hasn't done anything wrong_, he thought. _If anything, the Commander's in trouble. He shouldn't have harassed Holly._

The centaur quickly deleted the data from when Holly and Artemis' _together time_, but kept the feed from Trouble's helmet camera. He remote-destructed the microbug altogether.

_Another one of my projects, down the drain_.

It wasn't long, relatively speaking, before Trouble stormed into his office.

"Is something wrong, Commander?" Foaly asked.

"Yes." Trouble replied shortly. "Fowl refuses to relenquish Major Short. I'd say that's akin to kidnap, isn't it?"

Foaly pretended to think. Of course it would have been kidnapping, unless Holly chose to stay there on her own conscience, and seeing as she had fled to there in the first place...

"Under the current circumstances," Foaly said carefully. "I don't think so."

"How?" Trouble's voice was one of barely restrained anger.

"Well, it's only kidnap if the victim isn't willing, and from what I saw, Holly's the one who went to Fowl Manor in the first place. Artemis didn't even call her."

Trouble merely growled and left the room. _Time for a different plan..._

#####

As soon as Trouble closed the front door, Artemis marched up to his room, Holly close behind. When he closed the door, he turned to Holly.

"What did Trouble mean when he said that you were 'his'?"

Holly sighed. "Arty... I'll tell you, but you have to promise to not interrupt and let me finish, okay?"

Artemis nodded. He knew that whatever happened, he could trust her.

"Okay. About... thirty years ago now, Trouble noticed the only female in the LEP Training Academy. Namely, me. And we were both young, and we kind of... took a fancy for each other, so to speak. Then, when I joined the Force, Trouble became my superior officer. I broke off whatever relationship we had, and I thought Trouble was fine with it. He didn't seem to have fallen for me that hard, because he didn't show any romantic feelings toward me until just a few months ago, when we went on that date."

Artemis sat still, processing this information. Then he sighed.

"Why did he say it like he still had some claim over you? What would have made him think that?"

Holly shrugged. "I honestly don't know." Her face turned slightly red. "I mean, we never 'did it,' if that's what you're asking."

Artemis nodded, visibly relaxing. That had been his biggest fear, that Holly had lost her virginity to Trouble. While that wouldn't detract from his love for her, it would have made things harder, emotionally and legally.

"The only thing I can think of are the few dates we went on." Holly became visibly agitated, despite the fact that Artemis didn't seem to think much of it. Artemis noticed, and put his hand on her shoulder.

"It's okay, Holly. I don't care what you and Trouble may or may not have done. All I need this for is to use against him."

"So you can keep me?" Holly asked. Her voice was full of hope and... something else. Deviousness?

Artemis grinned. "Exactly. What happened during those dates?"

Holly shrugged again. "Nothing much. Food. Talking."

Artemis nodded. "I see..."

This was going to be easy. Very easy.

#####

"If I may ask, Holly," Artemis said some time later. "What _exactly_ did Trouble do to you before you came up here?" Artemis and Holly were 'chilling' in Artemis' room. Holly had been reading some books that Artemis had translated into Gnommish on his bed, and Artemis, as usual, was doing something on his computer. Now he was facing Holly, who looked up from her book.

"Hmm?" she asked. "I didn't hear you."

"What did Trouble do to you, specifically?"

Artemis had long since lost the ability to hide his emotions from Holly, and she saw determination and anger in his eyes. So she opened her mouth and told her story.

#####

Holly had just gotten back from a surface assignment. She was a sweaty mess, and her uniform had a small tear on the shoulder, not to mention several scratches on her helmet.

See, this surface mission was similar to the one she had been on all those years ago, when she had been kidnapped by Artemis. She had been assigned to take down a troll.

##

"Amazing how time changes things," Artemis noted.

"Yeah," Holly laughed. "The first time, I was kidnapped, the second time I flew right in. Now hush. I'm the one telling the story, not you."

##

"Major," Trouble said. "Come with me, please." That was all he said before turning on his heel and walking off.

Holly was confused. _Did I do something wrong?_ She thought. _I don't think so... Then again..._

Holly followed Trouble through a maze of corridors, some of which she'd never seen. Trouble didn't speak a word the whole way there. Eventually he stopped at an empty office Holly had never seen before. Seeing her confused look, Trouble said, "We're planning on expanding Police Plaza. I need your opinion on the dimensions of the office."

Holly nodded. "Ah."

Trouble motioned to the door. "You first."

Holly entered the room, and the first thing she noticed was the size of the office. Instead of her 7x7-unit** (A 'unit' is the Fairy equivalent of one Human 'foot'. 12 inches, not the extremity.)** office, this one had to be at least 20x20. It was _huge_.

"What are we planning on doing with all this space?" Holly asked. She turned around to see Trouble locking the door silently behind him.

"What are you doing?" Holly asked, a tinge of fear creeping into her voice.

Trouble chuckled darkly. "You'll see," he said before surging forward, grabbing her wrists tightly and pinning her against the wall, arms held high above her. Holly shrieked, more in surprise than pain.

"Commander, what are you-?" That was all she could get out before Trouble slammed his lips onto hers. Holly struggled for a few precious moments before her training kicked in. She opened her mouth a little, and she felt Trouble grin, thinking he had won.

_Sick little fuck._

Holly opened her mouth more, and Trouble tried to force his tongue through her lips. He also shifted his grip on her wrists so that one hand was holding both. By the time Holly realized why he had done that, his hand was already making its way down to her breasts, clearly intending to grope them.

_You sick, sick fuck._

That was as far as he got before Holly bit down onto his lip, hard. Trouble yelped and drew back, enough for Holly to headbutt him in the nose and use her bony knee to, well, _knee_ him in the crotch.

As with everybody that gets hit in those two precious areas, Trouble was bound to remove his hand from her wrists, allowing Holly to both escape and punch him in the nose, breaking it instantly and knocking him onto the floor.

"Don't you DARE!" she shouted when Trouble tried to get up. She kicked his nose, _again_, for good measure. She used her omnitool to pick the lock, and ran down the hall, pulling the route back from memory. As she ran, she could only think of one thing.

_Where do I go to get as far away from Trouble as possible?_

And each time she asked herself that question, her mind could only supply one answer.

_Fowl Manor. FOWL MANOR. FOWL MANOR!_

So that's where Holly went. She still had her wings on, and her visa expired in twenty minutes. Enough to get her to the surface.

Holly ran harder. She could already hear Trouble's footsteps, far behind her.

#####

Artemis sat, dumbstruck. Several times he tried to formulate a response, but simply... couldn't. Eventually, though, he was able to.

"He actually - He took you to a secluded place, and then attempted to seduce you... This wasn't a spontaneous thing, Trouble had to have planned it..." He sat silently, fuming. Holly turned back to her book, and for the next several minutes, all she heard from Artemis was heavy breathing and the occasional angry mutter.

"ARGH!" Artemis suddenly shouted. Holly's head snapped up.

"What?"

"I need to meditate for awhile. Get this shit out of my head."

Holly shuddered when Artemis swore. That was so unlike him, and it was going to take awhile to get used to.

"Okay," she said. "Don't worry, I'll still be here when you get back."

Artemis chuckled, leaving the room to go to some secluded corner of the Manor that would provide the necessary silence for 'optimum meditation', as Artemis called it.

Some time later, Artemis returned, visibly relaxed.

"Finally," he announced. "My mind is now clear of any anger left over from what happened today."

Holly sat up; she had been dozing off when Artemis came in.

"That's good, Arty," she yawned. "But why did you have to be so loud about it? Why didn't you just get in bed?"

Artemis stared at Holly. She had changed her clothes while he had been away. Well, maybe not _changed_ her clothes. From the look of things, she had simply stripped off a layer, leaving herself in the Fairy equivalent of a sports bra and short shorts.

"I... don't know," he - almost - stuttered. Stuttering was not something that Artemis did on a regular basis. "Why are _you_ in my bed?"

Holly grinned and Artemis rolled his eyes.

"Fine," he sighed. He climbed into his bed behind Holly and put an arm under her shoulder. Holly backed into him, pressing her whole body against his. Artemis used the hand that was not under Holly to stroke her hair. She sighed happily when he did this.

"I could feel that every night," she mumbled, almost to herself.

**(Aww...**

**5 Reviews for another chapter! I know you want it... )**


	6. Chapter 6

**(I'm baaack! With this story, at least. I still have no idea what I'm going to do with the other ones.**

**So you all probably remember where we left off last time. If you don't, you can click that handy little 'previous chapter' button.**

**Anyway, enjoy!)**

Commander Kelp had a plan. After nearly five hours of strenuous brain-work, he came up with an (in his opinion) ingenious solution to his problem.

He would get rid of Artemis Fowl. And if that didn't work, he'd mind-wipe him and Holly to forget her and Artemis'... interactions.

He shuddered as he remembered what he saw. That kind of relationship was, in his mind, the most impure, disgusting _shit_ he could think of. Sure, the Fowl boy had helped the People on several occasions, but taking the LEP's best officer as his own was just one step too far. And he was Human, no less.

Trouble powered on his computer to find the video file from earlier, but no matter how hard he searched, he could not find it.

_Damn you, Foaly. Must've deleted it_.

Trouble's plan was to edit the audio to make it sound like Artemis and Holly's private moment had been a little more... forced by the Mud Whelp. That would have given him leverage and a reason to wipe him. The LEP couldn't have _that_ happening to their officer.

00000

Artemis Fowl was feeling very self-satisfied at the moment. He finally had an idea of what to do with his life moving forward, he was in a relationship, and sex.

He was currently laying next to the sleeping form of Captain Holly Short. He himself had woken up mere minutes ago, and had no desire to leave this spot. Holly was so beautiful, all he wanted to do was kiss her and... more...

Artemis shook himself from his lustful thoughts. _She's asleep_, he chided himself. _It would be wrong to do... that._

This conflict went on for several minutes before he decided to just go take a shower. As the warm water pelted his bare back, he contemplated the many threats Trouble had spat at them.

_You can stay here until I come back with a warrant. Then not you or anybody else can stop me_.

Artemis scoffed to himself. How would the Commander possibly obtain a warrant for his arrest? From what Foaly had told him and what he read, the People have no business in the dealings of Humans, even when one of their own is involved. As long as it doesn't compromise the secrecy of the People as a whole, nobody really cared. Besides, Foaly had deleted the tapes from that day, so there was no evidence that anything had happened.

By the time Artemis pulled himself from his tactical mind, a half hour had already passed. Doubtless Holly would be awake by now.

And she was. Artemis had nothing on but boxers and a towel when he walked in, but Holly was completely dressed in one of Myles' T-shirts and a pair of clean shorts. Butler must have gotten them for her. Her state of dress suggested that there had to be something Artemis was missing.

"What?" Artemis asked skeptically.

"Can you take me to see the grounds?" Holly looked at him pleadingly, knowing he couldn't resist.

Artemis sighed. "Sure. You're going to want to wear long pants, though. There are some parts of the estate that haven't been tended to in awhile."

Holly pressed her lips together, thinking. "I don't have any long pants. I came up here with nothing but my LEP jumpsuit, and I don't want to wear that because if I do, the GPS function will automatically activate and Commander Kelp will know exactly where I am."

Artemis had to agree that this was a good point. "I'll just carry you through those parts then."

Holly shrugged. "Fine with me."

00000

Artemis and Holly strolled around the grounds, listening to the birds singing, and Artemis going through the extensive history of the place, pointing out various ruins and areas.

When they came to the lake, Holly saw a floating gazebo on the lake that she'd never noticed before, probably because she was too busy saving the world the only time she'd been over here. She'd actually never seen one of these in real life, only in pirated Human movies.

"What's that?" She asked, pointing to the curious structure.

Artemis furrowed his eyebrows. "That is the gazebo. I haven't been there for a long time, so I am unsure of the state of wear."

"Can we go check it out?"

Artemis sighed. "Alright. We'd best be careful, though."

The gazebo wasn't as bad as Artemis had originally thought. While there was water damage around the edges and a sizeable hole in the floor revealing the water below, the rest looked to be in perfectly acceptable condition.

Artemis and Holly sat together on one of the benches.

"You know, I could probably do something with this," Artemis gestured to the hole. "I could convert it into a scuba-diving entrance to the lake."

Holly had to agree. "That sounds like fun. The water's clean though, right?"

"Of course it is," Artemis said nonchalantly, then added, "Well, as clean as it can be with hundreds of fish and other creatures living in it."

Holly laughed. Artemis had a knack for amusing her, something other people rarely even came close to. With Artemis, it was a regular occurence.

_Damn,_ she thought. _I must be getting serious._

Well, along with her feelings for Artemis, something on an entirely different spectrum became very serious. That was discovered when the entire top half of the gazebo disappeared, along with Artemis' hopes of refurbishing it.

In the sky above them were three LEP craft, one of which with an open door which in turn had two small tubes peeking out of it. Both of them ejected a small dart, one at Holly, the other at Artemis. Both of them were hit before they could react, making it almost the perfect kidnap.

The kidnappers' one blunder was not putting the helmet on before they shot, allowing Artemis to get the tiniest glimpse of one of their faces before he lost consciousness.

_My goodness,_ he thought. _Trouble's gone completely mad._

-000-

Artemis woke up in the same place he had lost consciousness, that place being in the middle of a topless gazebo. His predicament would have been slightly better, had the roof been present to block out the now pouring rain. It had been merely overcast earlier, and Artemis hadn't put much thought into the weather. That oversight had cost him a suit, and his normally perfect hair.

There were, however, more pressing issues. Like the fact that Holly was not next to him, as she had been earlier.

Artemis immediately had an idea of what had happened. Trouble had loopholed the Book, which specifically stated that no Fairy or Human was to be forcibly removed from their _dwelling_, which did not include the grounds, it seemed, or Trouble would likely be convulsing on the ground right now.

That meant that Holly was likely on her way to, or _in_ Haven, and doubtless Trouble was somewhere near.

And goodness knows that was bad.

**(All right! Shit went down. 5 reviews gets you another chapter!)**


	7. Chapter 7

**(Sorry I haven't been active in so long, guys! Life happened and I just didn't have time to post chapters. Even so, this one will be a bit short because I just couldn't make it longer.**

**Enjoy!)**

"Butler!" Artemis shouted as he ran into the Manor, sopping wet. "Butler, three LEP ships entered the Fowl Manor airspace some time ago. Where has it gone?"

"I'm afraid they disappeared, Artemis," was Butler's terse reply; he was already at the computer talking to Foaly, trying to figure out where exactly the LEP shuttles were that had appparently been illegally checked out.

"Foaly says that whoever stole them removed the trackers. They are a very crafty individual."

Artemis emitted a low growl from deep in his throat. "I need to find them. Holly is on one of them, and Commander Kelp was piloting."

Butler, and Foaly two hundred kilometers underground, almost fell out of their chairs.

"What do you _mean_, 'Commander Kelp was piloting'?"

"Exactly what I said. Trouble kidnapped Holly, likely in a fit of rage that she rejected him for me."

"Okay," Foaly said, "So we're dealing with a hostage situation."

"Exactly," Butler nodded. "So the most logical course of action would be... Artemis?"

Artemis had _thunked_ his elbows on the table and put his head in his hands. He was either thinking, extremely distraught, or both.

Turns out, it _was_ both. Artemis' shoulders soon began to shake, and when he looked up, his eyes were a unique and near heartbreaking mixture of pain, anger, sorrow, and grim determination.

"You know how hostage situations go," Artemis' voice cracked with the emotion he was trying - and failing - to hold in. "The kidnapper presents a demand, the rescuer will either pay or not pay. Either way, with people like Trouble, things will end badly."

"What do you mean, 'badly'?" Foaly asked hesitantly. Butler tried his best to stop him, but once Foaly has it in his mind to say something, it will almost always get said. In this case, saying it was a huge mistake.

Artemis fixed his tear-soaked eyes onto Foaly's own.

"'Badly', as in death. Somebody is going to die in this deal."

-000-

Holly, on the other hand, woke up near an extremely familiar and, in her opinion, repulsive person. She was in an LEP shuttle, alone with Trouble at the controls.

"Trouble!" She growled. "_What _are you doing? Where am I?"

"I'm removing you from the presence of that toxic Mud Person," Trouble said through gritted teeth. "I know how Humans are, and he won't hesitate to dump you the moment he gets bored with you. I, on the other hand, won't."

"You'll never get me," Holly spat. "I'll choose who I want to be with."

"Yes, of course," said Trouble dismissively. "I happen to be able to sway that decision, of course." He waved a small device over his shoulder. A mind-wiping device.

Holly's eyes widened. "You can't do that. That's illegal." Her gaze hardened. "You're a psycho. I'll never be with you. Artemis will find me, then he'll trigger a recall. You'll never win."

"I already have. Right now, we're on our way to an island that nobody else has ever been to. I've removed the trackers, so it's impossible to find us."

"What about the other two shuttles? Doubtless three shuttles gone will prompt Foaly to do a search. There's no hiding from him."

Trouble shook his head, chuckling. "Not when he believes the craft isn't worth looking for. Like maybe... if he thought it was destroyed?"

"The other two shuttles are on their way back to Haven right now. I've instructed the pilots to tell Foaly that ours has crashed, and that nobody survived."

-000-

"Foaly!"

The pounding on the door was urgent, judging by the fact that it did not stop until he opened it.

Chix Verbil stood there, looking shell-shocked.

"What are you doing here?" Foaly asked, alarmed by his expression.

"You know the shuttles that were stolen?" Chix panted. "Well, two of them just came back."

"What about the third one?" Foaly demanded.

Chix shook his head sadly. "Gone. The pilots told me it fell somewhere over the Atlantic, and that it was likely a system failure."

"Who was in it?"

"The Commander and Captain Short, I think. But can't be right. I thought Holly was at Fowl Manor when the shuttles were stolen."

Foaly sank into his chair. "She was. Trouble kidnapped her, and now..."

"He _what_?" Chix was genuinely surprised. he knew there was some sort of love triangle with the Commander, Holly, and _somebody_ else, but he had no idea that it would go this far.

"It doesn't matter now. Now that they're both... gone. Get out, I have to cope with this."

Chix stepped out obediently, understanding Foaly's sorrow. Holly was a friend to everybody on the force, except for a select few.

Foaly reopened the com-link to Butler and labelled it as 'private'. Butler would tell Artemis the news his own way.

**(The plot unfolds! **

**The 'life' that happened while I was gone has left me in quite high spirits. If you want to find out just what happened, review and I'll give you another chapter with an explanation once I get 5!)**


	8. Chapter 8

**(Okay, I know I haven't gotten 5 reviews yet, but I'm posting this for two reasons: First, I already have 25 reviews, so it'll be easier to know when to update next. Second, we're all in quarantine so I thought I'd give the few people that read this something to do.**

**Also, I did promise to tell you what 'life' happened while I was absent, and if you read through the chapter, then I'll tell you :)**

**Enjoy!)**

Butler and Artemis were brainstorming on different ways to retrieve Holly when Butler's phone rang. He picked it up, and after a few seconds, his face lost all color.

"Excuse me, Artemis, I have to take this. It's Foaly." Butler disappeared down the hall, leaving Artemis scared as to what might be going on.

Scarcely three minutes later, Butler emerged again, looking like a broken puppet. His arms, normally diligently pressed to his sides, hung limply, and he was slouching. What's more, Artemis could swear he saw tears brimming at the corner of the bodyguard's eyes.

"What is it, Butler?" Artemis asked.

"Foaly just called... the shuttle that Holly was on... he said it crashed somewhere over the Atlantic. Nobody survived."

The words cut Artemis to the core. He slumped over in his chair. Holly, gone? They had been through so much together, and now...

"Where did he get this information?" Artemis asked weakly.

"Chix Verbil, who got it from the pilots of the other two shuttles."

Artemis' overwhelming grief was squashed by his loathing for the sprite. He didn't exactly know why he hated Chix so much, he just _did_. As such, Artemis did not trust a word he said, no matter how sincere they may have seemed.

"We need to go down to Haven," Artemis' resolve hardened. "I need to speak to Captain Verbil."

-000-

Several hours and exactly one phone call later, Artemis stood in the shuttleport overlooking Haven. Foaly trotted over to him, looking just as melancholy as the rest of them.

"What is it, Artemis?"

"Where is Captain Verbil?"

"I'm here," came the reply from behind Foaly. "And it's Commander Verbil now, just so you know." He seemed to take very little joy in the sudden promotion, because he apparently knew what had happened to get him there.

Artemis rounded on the sprite. "Where is Holly? Who told you of her apparent death?"

"Uhm, Corporal Kelp did. D'you want me to get him?"

"Yes. I want him here in no more than three minutes."

Two minutes and twenty-three seconds later, Grub panted toward them, Commander Verbil almost pushing him along. Butler cracked his knuckles ominously, which was supposed to help Artemis get an answer out of him. It was an effective trick that had worked in the past.

Artemis knelt so that he was more or less eye level with the terrified elf, and fixed him with the most murderous glare he could manage. With several hours of intense sadness and anger behind it, the look was truly a sight to see.

"Where. is. Holly?" Artemis spoke in such a menacing voice that Foaly almost regretted lowering it when he had created the clone.

Grub paled. "She - she's dead. I already told Chix."

"You don't seem very sorry about it. I thought you two were friends." Artemis cracked his own knuckles, and the new muscles rippling in his arms pushed Grub over the edge. Foaly winced and regretted his choices more.

"Fine, fine! Trouble told me to tell you that! He's taking Holly to some island in the Atlantic! Don't kill me, please."

Artemis stood. It took all of his willpower to not pick Grub up by the neck and give him a piece of his mind. As it was, he emitted a guttural shout and clocked him over the head hard enough that he would have a nice egg when he woke up.

Foaly and Butler stepped back, shocked at this turn of events, and Artemis' unusual display of violence. Neither of them questioned it though, putting it down to his grief and betrayal of someone he thought as a colleague.

"So... Holly's still alive?" Foaly asked hopefully.

"It would seem so. Come, Butler. We are following the ex-Commander."

Foaly raised his hand. "If you want an LEP shuttle, I can let you have one. Chix will pilot."

Chix nodded, confirming that he would, in fact, fly the shuttle provided Artemis agreed.

"Fine," Artemis sighed. "Although, how will we know where the shuttle went?"

"All shuttles have a log that records what all the controls were doing during the flight," Foaly said. "Just tell the program to replay, and it'll give you a visual image of where the shuttle was based on the control log."

"Is it possible that Trouble may have cleared it?"

Foaly shook his head. "Impossible. The logs cannot be cleared, even by me. Even if you were to take out the drive, there are four more scattered around the internals of the shuttle, including one right next to a turbine. Besides, I doubt he even knows about them."

"Excellent. Now we can safely predict Trouble's trajectory based on this log."

Twenty minutes later, Artemis, Butler, Foaly and Commander Verbil were clustered around the shuttle's computer.

"Look, over the middle of the Atlantic this shuttle takes a sharp right. Verbil just checked the other one, and it made the same turn at exactly the same time. If we continue in their path, which is approximately north-northwest, we should find the island, and Holly."

"Good. The sooner we leave, the better. I can't bear to imagine what Trouble might have done to Holly by now."

**(Alright, for what you have all undoubtedly been waiting for... the news!**

**No, it has nothing to do with pregnancy...**

**BUT**

**After years of trying, and several failed attempts, I finally got myself a girlfriend!**

**5 reviews will get you another chapter and I'll tell you more about her! ;)**


	9. Chapter 9

**(Wow, it's been awhile! I stayed true to my word and waited for 5 reviews before posting another chapter. And, as promised, I will tell you more about my girlfriend at the end. And the action here in this chapter and chapters to come is extremely fast-paced because I didn't intend for this to be a very long story; it's more of a buildup/background info story than anything.**

**Enjoy! And try not to kill me.)**

Trouble had not, in fact, done very much to Holly as of yet. He was so confident that his plan had worked that he was going to leave her be for a few days, to let her get used to her new home. Unfortunately for him, Holly spent her entire first day sitting under an umbrella on the far side of the island, alternating between furiously gripping the sand next to her while muttering some not-nice words under her breath and wistfully watching the skies as though Artemis would suddenly appear and save her.

_There will be no saving you this time, Captain. Sooner or later, you will learn to love me, and forget the Mud Whelp._

Trouble was more wrong than he thought.

_So_ wrong.

It was the middle of the night when Trouble woke up hearing the telltale sounds of an LEP shuttle landing.

"D'arvit!" he cursed, knowing immediately what had happened. Grub could never keep a secret.

In the next room over, Holly was already wide awake and climbing out the window.

_I could've sworn I locked that,_ Trouble thought, still trying to wake up. His mind was rushing a million miles an hour, but his body refused to cooperate.

Outside, Artemis had jumped out of the craft and was hauling ass over the sand toward the small house. His training with Butler had paid off well. He saw Holly come around the corner of the building, looking frantic.

"Holly!" Artemis whisper-shouted. In response, Holly motioned for him to stop. Like an idiot, Artemis kept running. Nothing, not even Butler, could keep him from his love now.

"Artemis, stop!" Holly said. "_Trouble has a gun!_"

It was that line that caused Artemis to finally listen and stumble to a stop. Not even Butler could have stopped him before then, but the very real possibility of one of them dying was more than enough.

"Where is he?" Artemis hissed.

Holly made a subtle motion over her shoulder. _Behind me_.

"Shit," he muttered. If he made an attempt to rescue her now, Trouble wouldn't hesitate to kill her. Artemis had, in his hurry, foolishly neglected to grab a Neutrino on the way out. He regretted that decision now.

Butler appeared at Artemis' side, along with Commander Verbil.

"What's going on, Artemis?" the bodyguard asked quietly.

"Trouble has a gun, and he's behind Holly," Artemis replied with equal volume.

"Shit."

"That's what I said. Do you have a plan?"

"I could go around, while you keep him busy."

"Sounds good. Go."

While Butler slunk off into the shadows behind the house, Artemis stood as tall as he could.

"Let her go, Trouble." He called, his words quickly dissipating in the constant roar of the ocean.

"Why should I?" Trouble's voice carried the calm facade of utter loathing. Holly stood between them both, frozen solid with fear.

"Because you have no claim to her. _I _do."

"No!" Trouble shouted. "She chose me first! She belongs to _me_!"

Artemis' eyes flashed dangerously. He still could not see Trouble, but if he could, he would be glaring daggers straight through his skull. Instead, he contented himself by glaring at the place he thought the ex-commander was.

"She does not _belong_ to anybody. She belongs to herself, and she can choose who she wants! That is not your decision!"

"Enough!" Trouble fired a warning shot past Holly's head, and the bullet screamed off into space. "Next time is straight down the middle!"

"Why would you do that? I thought you wanted her! What good is Holly to either of us if she's dead?"

Holly watched the two men argue as though it were a tennis match. Back and forth, back and forth.

_Butler, where are you?_ Artemis thought. _You should be there by now._

Trouble cackled madly. He had completely lost his mind. "Because if I can't have her, _nobody_ can!"

"No!" Artemis shouted, but it was too late. Trouble fired the gun straight at the back of Holly's head, and time seemed to slow down.

Artemis saw the momentary look of terror on Holly's face, and her eyes met his immediately before the bullet impacted.

Holly Short was dead instantly, before she even had time to fall.

"NOO!"

The sound that issued from Artemis' vocal cords carried a pain too much to bear, the sound of a heart shattered beyond repair. it was so loud that nobody present heard the sound of Butler's fist impacting Trouble's skull, breaking it.

Artemis ran and knelt beside the woman he had loved for so long, yet for only a few days.

"Holly..." Artemis held her limp body in his arms, refusing to believe that this was the end. After all they'd been though, Holly couldn't be gone. He was painfully reminded of when she had died on Hybras, when Abbot's blade had pierced her chest.

Butler knelt beside his charge, also grieving tremendously for the loss of his friend. He would later admit that he did not know just how deep the bond went between Artemis and his elfin lover, and that he may likely never understand.

Little did _any_ of them know, because of several factors that would only be replicated once in all of history, their bond was deep enough to awaken something that had not been awakened in Humans since the dawn of civilization.

**(Don't kill me! I swear, this was the best place to end the chapter!**

**You know, I could make it worse for y'all by upping the requirements to 10 reviews...**

**Mmmm, better not.**

**Okay! I'm gonna talk about my girlfriend now.**

***insert five-page essay on how great she is***

**No for real though, she's great. Strikingly beautiful, very open during conversations, all the great stuff :)**

**I know I'm using 'great' a lot, but it's just the only word I can use to describe her :P**

**But, I can't have my cake and eat it too, because we can't see each other due to the cOrOnAvIrUs shutting everything down :\**

**Anyway, that's all I got. 5 reviews and I'll post another chapter!)**


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